Estonia

republicIndependence 6 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Estonia as the 1994 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 122 fields, one of 34 editions from 1992 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalTallinn
LocationEastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Russia
1994

Every edition of Estonia

Populationas each edition published it
1.62 million July 1994 est. · 1.61m in 1992
Population growth% a year
0.52% 1994 est. · 0.52% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 38.1 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 69.75 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
2 children per woman 1994 est. · 2.3 in 1992
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
19.1 deaths per 1,000 live births 1994 est. · 25 in 1992
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$5,480 1993 est. · $41,500 in 2025
GDP real growth% a year
-5% 1993 est. · -30% in 1993

Geography

Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Russia

43 fields
Coastline
1,393km
Land boundaries
557km
total · Latvia 267 km, Russia 290 km
Irrigated land
110sq km
(1990)
Population
1,616,882
(July 1994 est.)growth rate: 0.52% (1994 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1994 est.)

Birth
13.98Death
12.04Net migration
3.29

Ethnic divisions(1989)

Estonian 61.5%Russian 30.3%Ukrainian 3.17%Byelorussian 1.8%Finn 1.1%other 2.13% (1989)
Labor force
750,000
(1992)
Literacy
9
age · -49 can read and write (1989)

Location

Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Russia

Map references

Arctic Region, Asia, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

total area

45,100 sq km

land area

43,200 sq km

comparative area

slightly larger than New Hampshire and Vermont combined

note

includes 1,520 islands in the Baltic Sea

territorial sea

12 nm

Climate

maritime, wet, moderate winters, cool summers

Terrain

marshy, lowlands

Natural resources

shale oil, peat, phosphorite, amber

arable land

22%

permanent crops

0%

meadows and pastures

11%

forest and woodland

31%

other

36%

current issues

  • air heavily polluted with sulfur dioxide from oil-shale burning power plants in northeast;
  • contamination of soil and ground water with petroleum products, chemicals at military bases

natural hazards

NA

international agreements

party to - Hazardous Wastes, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change

Infant mortality rate

19.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

total population

69.96 years

male

64.98 years

female

75.19 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate

2 children born/woman (1994 est.)

noun

Estonian(s)

adjective

Estonian

Religions

Lutheran

Languages

Estonian (official), Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, other

total population

100%

male

100%

female

100%

by occupation

industry and construction 42%, agriculture and forestry 20%, other 38% (1990)

Government

Republic

34 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

21%
Fatherland 21%Safe Haven 14%Popular Front 13%M 10%ENIP 8%ERP 7%ERL 7%EP 2%other 18%

Legislature, 101 seatsone dot, one seat

Fatherland 29Safe Haven 18Popular Front 15M 12ENIP 10ERP 8ERL 8EP 1

conventional long form

Republic of Estonia

conventional short form

Estonia

local long form

Eesti Vabariik

local short form

Eesti

former

Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic

Type

republic

Capital

Tallinn

Administrative divisions

15 counties (maakonnad, singular - maakond) and 6 municipalities*: Harju maakond (Tallinn), Hiiu maakond (Kardla), Ida-Viru maakond (Johvi), Jarva maakond (Paide), Jogeva maakond (Jogeva), Kohtla-Jarve*, Laane maakond (Haapsalu), Laane-Viru maakond (Rakvere), Narva*, Parnu*, Parnu maakond (Parnu), Polva maakond (Polva), Rapla maakond (Rapla), Saare maakond (Kuessaare), Sillamae*, Tallinn*, Tartu*, Tartu maakond (Tartu), Valga maakond (Valga), Viljandi maakond (Viljandi), Voru maakond (Voru)

note

county centers are in parentheses

Independence

6 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday

Independence Day, 24 February (1918)

Constitution

adopted 28 June 1992

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

chief of state

  • President Lennart MERI (since 21 October 1992);
  • election last held 20 September 1992;
  • (next to be held NA 1997);
  • results - no candidate received majority;
  • newly elected Parliament elected Lennart MERI (21 October 1992)

head of government

Prime Minister Mart LAAR (since 21 October 1992)

cabinet

Council of Ministers; appointed by the prime minister, authorized by the legislature

Parliament (Riigikogu)

  • elections last held 20 September 1992;
  • (next to be held NA);
  • results - Fatherland 21%, Safe Haven 14%, Popular Front 13%, M 10%, ENIP 8%, ERP 7%, ERL 7%, EP 2%, other 18%;
  • seats - (101 total) Fatherland 29, Safe Haven 18, Popular Front 15, M 12, ENIP 10, ERP 8, ERL 8, EP 1

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders

National Coalition Party 'Pro Patria' (Isamaa of Fatherland), Mart

LAAR, president, made up of 4 parties:
  • Christian Democratic Party (KDE), Aivar KALA, chairman;
  • Christian Democratic Union (KDL), Illar HALLASTE, chairman;
  • Conservative People's Party (KR), Enn TARTO, chairman;
  • Republican Coalition Party (VK), Leo STARKOV, chairman;
Moderates (M), made up of two parties:
  • Estonian Social Democratic Party (ESDB), Marju LAURISTIN, chairman;
  • Estonian Rural Center Pary (EMK), Ivar RAIG, chairman;
  • Estonian National Independence Party (ENIP), Tunne KELAM, chairman;
  • Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Paul-Eerik RUMMO, chairman;
  • Safe Haven, made up of three parties: Estonian Coalition Party (EK), Tiit VAHI, chairman;
  • Estonian Rural Union (EM), Arvo SIRENDI, chairman;
  • Estonian Democratic Justice Union/Estonian Pensioners' League (EDO/EPU), Harri KARTNER, chairman;
  • Estonian Centrist Party (EK), Edgar SAVISAAR, chairman;
  • Estonian Democratic Labor Party (EDT), Vaino VALJAS, chairman;
  • Estonian Green Party (ERL), Tonu OJA;
  • Estonian Royalist Party (ERP), Kalle KULBOK, chairman;
  • Entrepreneurs' Party (EP), Tiit MADE;
  • Estonian Citizen (EKL), Juri TOOMEPUU, chairman

Member of

BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NACC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

chief of mission

Ambassador Toomas Hendrik ILVES

chancery

1030 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005, Suite 1000

telephone

(202) 789-0320

FAX

(202) 789-0471

consulate(s) general

New York

chief of mission

Ambassador Robert C. FRASURE

embassy

Kentmanni 20, Tallin EE 0001

mailing address

use embassy street address

telephone

011-[372] (6) 312-021 through 024

FAX

[372] (6) 312-025

Flag

pre-1940 flag restored by Supreme Soviet in May 1990 - three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black, and white

Economy

26 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$5,480
(1993 est.)
Real growth rate
-5%
(1993 est.)industrial production growth: growth rate -27% (1993)
Inflation, consumer prices
2.6%per month
(1993 average)
Unemployment rate
3.5%
(May 1993); but large number of underemployed workers

Overview

Bolstered by a widespread national desire to reintegrate into Western Europe, the Estonian government has pursued a program of market reforms and rough stabilization measures, which is rapidly transforming the economy. Two years after independence - and one year after the introduction of the kroon - Estonians are beginning to reap tangible benefits;

inflation is low; production declines appear to have bottomed out; and living standards are rising. Economic restructuring is clearly underway with the once-dominant energy-intensive heavy industrial sectors giving way to labor-intensive light industry and the underdeveloped service sector.

The private sector is growing rapidly; the share of the state enterprises in retail trade has steadily declined and by June 1993 accounted for only 12.5% of total turnover, and 70,000 new jobs have reportedly been created as a result of new business start-ups. Estonia's foreign trade has shifted rapidly from East to West with the Western industrialized countries now accounting for two-thirds of foreign trade.

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $8.8 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Estonian statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)

revenues

$223 million

expenditures

$142 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992)

Exports

$765 million (f.o.b., 1993)

commodities

textile 14%, food products 11%, vehicles 11%, metals 11% (1993)

partners

Russia, Finland, Latvia, Germany, Ukraine

Imports

$865 million (c.i.f., 1993)

commodities

machinery 18%, fuels 15%, vehicles 14%, textiles 10% (1993)

partners

Finland, Russia, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands

External debt

$650 million (end of 1991)

capacity

3,700,000 kW

production

22.9 billion kWh

consumption per capita

14,245 kWh (1992)

Industries

accounts for 42% of labor force; oil shale, shipbuilding, phosphates, electric motors, excavators, cement, furniture, clothing, textiles, paper, shoes, apparel

Agriculture

  • employs 20% of work force;
  • very efficient by Soviet standards;
  • net exports of meat, fish, dairy products, and potatoes;
  • imports of feedgrains for livestock;
  • fruits and vegetables

Illicit drugs

  • transshipment point for illicit drugs from Central and Southwest Asia and Latin America to Western Europe;
  • limited illicit opium producer;
  • mostly for domestic consumption

recipient

US commitments, including Ex-Im (1992), $10 million

Currency

1 Estonian kroon (EEK) = 100 cents (introduced in August 1992)

Exchange rates

kroons (EEK) per US$1 - 13.9 (January 1994), 13.2 (1993); note - kroons are tied to the German Deutschmark at a fixed rate of 8 to 1

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

16 fields

Networkskm

Railroads
1,030 (1990)Inland waterways
500
Railroads: ; does not include industrial lines

Railroads

1,030 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)

total

30,300 km

paved or gravelled

29,200 km

unpaved

earth 1,100 km (1990)

Pipelines

natural gas 420 km (1992)

Ports

coastal - Tallinn, Novotallin, Parnu; inland - Narva

Merchant marine

69 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 406,405 GRT/537,016 DWT, bulk 6, cargo 50, container 2, oil tanker 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 6, short-sea passenger 4

total

29

usable

18

with permanent-surface runways

11

with runways over 3,659 m

0

with runways 2,440-3,659 m

10

with runways 1,060-2,439 m

8

note

a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip

Telecommunications

  • Estonia's telephone system is antiquated and supports about 400,000 domestic telephone circuits, i.e. 25 telephones for each 100 persons;
  • improvements are being made piecemeal, with emphasis on business needs and international connections;
  • there are still about 150,000 unfulfilled requests for telephone service;
  • broadcast stations - 3 TV (provide Estonian programs as well Moscow Ostenkino's first and second programs);
  • international traffic is carried to the other former USSR republics by land line or microwave and to other countries partly by leased connection to the Moscow international gateway switch, and partly by a new Tallinn-Helsinki fiber optic submarine cable which gives Estonia access to international circuits everywhere;
  • substantial investment has been made in cellular systems which are operational throughout Estonia and also Latvia and which have access to the international packet switched digital network via Helsinki

Defense Forces

Ground Forces, Maritime Border Guard, National Guard (Kaitseliit), | Security Forces (internal and border troops), Coast Guard

3 fields
Defense expenditures
124.4million kroons
NA% of GDP (forecast for 1993); note - conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Branches

Ground Forces, Maritime Border Guard, National Guard (Kaitseliit), Security Forces (internal and border troops), Coast Guard

Manpower availability

  • males age 15-49 392,135;
  • fit for military service 308,951;
  • reach military age (18) annually 11,789 (1994 est.)

Central Intelligence Agency. “Estonia.” The World Factbook 1994. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/estonia/1994.

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